WMS refers to Warehouse Management System. A warehouse management system is nothing but a software application which plays a major role in supporting and optimising the day to day operations of a warehouse and managing the functions of distribution centers. A WMS is essential in assisting the management of various significant operations which include :
- Planning, organising, involving the staff, coordinating and supervising the proper utilisation of resources which are available
- Store or stockpile as well as control the mobility of goods in and from the warehouse
- Supporting the workers in the seamless execution of material movement as well as material storage.
Integration of WMS in the day-to-day warehousing operations :
Warehouse management systems are beneficial in assisting the warehouse workers in performing an array of important works like :
- Reception of inbound products and stocks
- Inspection and acceptance of inbound stocks
- Temporary put-away of stocks
- Providing internal restoration to picking positions
- Picking, packing and offering other value-added services and amenities
- Assembling or preparing the orders on the shipping dock
- Documentation of various products and essential operations
- Execution and validation of each constituent steps that go into warehouse operations
- Recording of inventory movement across the warehouse
- Outbound logistics which involves shipping of the products to their requisite destinations.
A warehouse management system is deemed as the central and most important unit in the automated framework of the warehouse because it receives, stores and processes as well as supplies information upon which various necessary warehousing functions are dependant. The WMS receives orders from the host system which is generally an Enterprise Resource Planning system and supplies the order into the database. After requisite optimisation is implemented upon the orders stored in the database, they are supplied to the connected conveyor control systems.
How are different processes of e-commerce facilitated by WMS :
As soon as a customer places an online order for a product that he or she requires through a particular website, the information is transported through an ERP system which is represented by the business host computer, to the WMS. The subsequent processes of managing the order, picking the ordered items and stuff are processed within the WMS. After all these processes are terminated, the processed information is delivered to the business host computer to support inventory management, financial transactions on the host computer, furnish shipping information to the customer and arrange for outbound logistics. These days, a WMS necessarily incorporates automated material handling equipment like conveyors, storage accessories like carousels, automated storage and retrieval systems, automated communication technologies like radio frequencies, ID technologies like barcode scanners and smart transaction technologies like credit and debit cards, etc.
Keyways in which WMS helps in the seamless management of infant nutrition products’ logistics :
Infant nutrition, childcare, and similar medical products are of tremendous significance as they would help to relieve cases of malnutrition in children and foster their futures. Infant nutrition and medical supplies are extremely sensitive to time and temperature as well as humidity and a minute disturbance in any of the conditions might render them unsuitable for consumption and administering. Therefore, logistics and inventory management are of extreme importance when it comes to preserving the quality of infant and childcare products till they are shipped to their required destinations.
An in-house, comprehensive WMS helps in the fluent management of warehousing operations. The efficient handling of products which range from goods reception, allocation of specific slots to them, preparation of the order and managing its dispatch helps in improving the overall scene of the warehouse logistics and the products are monitored from their arrival into the warehouse up to their delivery to the customers. Some crucial methods by virtue of which the WMS can benefit the logistics of infant and childcare products are :
- WMS optimises the product distribution and the goods are allocated in specific locations based on their turnover rate, expiration date and weight, which calls for easy sorting
- WMS gives the operators clear and accurate directions which aid in easy order picking and preparation
- The WMS can communicate with operators in real-time through devices that work on radio-frequency and thus the performance of warehousing operations is smooth
- Cloud-based versions of WMS called SaaS are high performance server infrastructures which ensure the optimal behaviour based on the volume of the business operations in concern
- The optimised picking option and permanent synchronisation with the ERP allows for prioritising and planning the picking in accordance with a coherent structure
- The Multi-carrier shipping software module controls the number of packages, prints labels for the carriers and generates the tracking code of the shipment and thus allows for the solution of e-commerce orders placed
- The Supply Chain analytics module allows for the business to track the status of each pallet at any given time; as to whether they are stored or the time of storage or movement and shipping of palletised products
- Omnichannel WMS allows for the ease of order preparation for all kinds of customers like retailers, wholesalers, e-commerce customers etc.
Thus an efficient WMS is extremely important for businesses to manage and effectively execute the logistics which involves highly sensitive goods like childcare and infant nutrition and medicinal products.